If you were to ask
anyone in the world to tell you of a famish spanish novel, surely they would
say the story of Don Quijote. Without a doubt this book is one of the most
famous in the world and has greatly influenced the European novels during the
17 century. I remember when I first learned of the story when I was watching a
children’s t.v. show called “Wishbone” where the main character, a dog, relates
the stories of many literary classics. I was captivated by the passion of Don
Quijote and his will to live his dreams in spite of the nay-sayers. This same
lure to the story along with the wittiness of the language of the book, is what
made Miguel de Cervantes famous. Needless to say, his birthplace, Alcalá de
Henares, and Spain in general, glorify him and greatly admire his works.
Statues of Cervantes or Don Quijote and Sancho Panzo can be seen throughout the
city. For example, the most important and central location of the city, the
plaza, is named after him as la Plaza de
Cervantes and it contains in the center a large statue of him. In addition, his
birth house is to this day, still standing and meticulously maintained. It can
be visited free of charge throughout the week. It is easy to find because you
just need to look for the statue of Don Quijote and Sancho Panza sitting on a
bench in front of it in la Calle Mayor.

Although
Cervantes is famous today, his life was by no means easy. He was baptized on
October 9 1547 and most likely born on September 29 1547, although this is
unclear. It is speculated that it is this day because it is the feast day of
Saint Michael and in Spain they typically name their children based on the
Saint’s feast day that the child is born. He moved a lot as a kid with his
family and where he received his education is unclear. Historians think that he
studied in a Jesuit school and possibly in the University of Salamanca. From
1570 to 1575 he was a soldier in the navy and fought in the famous battle of Lepanto.
During the battle he was wounded and lost the use of his left hand and for this
he was known as “el manco de Lepanto”. After his military term was up he and he
was returning home he was captured by Algerian pirates and became their slave
for five years. Finally he was relaeased and he returned home and began writing
again. During this time he wrote various works, such as La Galleta, but he did
not become famous until The ingenious
nobleman Mr Quijote. However before this publication he lived poorly and
had to work as a tax collector and provider to the Spanish Armada, and went to
prison various times. In addition, after The
ingenious nobleman Mr Quijote was published, a person under the pseudonym
Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda, wrote a false second part to the book, which
caused Cervantes to write his own to capture the true essence of the book. Like
his character Don Quijote, Cervantes overcame adversity and now his fame
remains for the rest of time.